"Portrait of My Love" is a song written by

Norman Newell Norman Newell (25 January 1919 – 1 December 2004) was an English record producer, who was mainly active in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the co-writer of many notable songs. As an A&R manager for EMI, he worked with musicians such as Shi ...

and

Cyril Ornadel Cyril Ornadel (2 December 192422 June 2011) was a British conductor, songwriter and composer, chiefly in musical theatre. He worked regularly with David Croft, the television writer, director and producer, as well as Norman Newell and Hal Sh ...

, which was released by

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons, 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career. AllMusic has described Monro as "one of the m ...

in 1960, and was an international hit for

Steve Lawrence Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935) is an American singer, comedian and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as " Steve and Eydie", and for his performance as Maury Sline, the manager and f ...

in 1961.

Matt Monro version

In 1960, Matt Monro released the song as a single. The song was Monro's first hit single, and spent 16 weeks on the UK's '' Record Retailer'' chart, reaching No. 3,Matt Monro - Full Official Chart History

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...

. Retrieved March 12, 2018. also reaching No. 3 on the UK's '' New Musical Express'' chart.Best Selling Pop Records in Britain
, '' Billboard'', January 30, 1961. p. 56. Retrieved March 13, 2018. In 1961, the song was released on Monro's album ''My Kind of Girl''.

Charts

Steve Lawrence version

In 1961, Steve Lawrence released a version of the song as a single and on the album ''Portrait of My Love''. Lawrence's version became an international hit and spent 16 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 9, while reaching No. 1 in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, No. 7 in Australia, and No. 9 on

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

's CHUM Hit Parade. Lawrence's version was ranked No. 30 on '' Billboard''s end of year " Hot 100 for 1961 - Top Sides of the Year" and No. 81 on '' Cash Box''s "Top 100 Chart Hits of 1961". In 1962, Steve Lawrence was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his rendition of "Portrait of My Love".

Awards

In 1961, the song won songwriters Norman Newell and Cyril Ornadel the British Songwriters Guild's

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

for "Outstanding Song of 1960". In 1999, the song was honored at the BMI Awards in London for having 2 million radio plays.

Other versions

*In 1965, the song became the theme of a Filipino film by the same title, released by

Sampaguita Pictures Sampaguita Pictures was a Philippine film production company. It was named for the Philippine national flower, sampaguita. Though no longer functioning, the company's Sampaguita Compound remains in Quezon City. History Sampaguita Pictures was es ...

and starring Eddie Gutierrez and Susan Roces. *In 1967,

the Tokens The Tokens were an American doo-wop band and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group has had four top 40 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, all in the 1960s, their biggest being the chart-topping 1961 hit si ...

released a cover version of the song as a single. Their version spent eight weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching No. 36, while reaching No. 25 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100, No. 34 on '' Record World''s "100 Top Pops", and No. 46 on Canada's ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' 100.RPM 100
, ''RPM Weekly'', Volume 7, No. 11, May 13, 1967. Retrieved December 13, 2018. *In 2005,

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song " Ne ...

released a cover of the song for his sixth studio album, ''

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

''.

References

{{Authority control 1960 songs 1960 singles 1961 singles 1967 singles Matt Monro songs Steve Lawrence songs Parlophone singles United Artists Records singles The Tokens songs Songs with lyrics by Norman Newell Songs written by Cyril Ornadel